"Lily, I need more ice!" Severus ordered tersely.

Lily pointed her wand and conjured more ice cubes into the large galvanized steel tub with the cold water.

Severus lifted the nearly comatose Theo and slipped him into the freezing tub. Despite all the Fever Reducers and water he and Lucy had administered, the boy's fever refused to break. It had climbed dangerously high and the only solution Severus could come up with was the ice water bath. He could not figure out why a mild virus had caused such a terrible reaction in the boy, especially since Harry had also had it and recovered. Lily's reaction had been a bit more severe, but then sometimes that occurred when an adult contracted a children's illness. Theo should have been able to throw off the symptoms, he was hardly ever sick and had the constitution of a hippogriff.

Instead he was wracked by odd muscle spasms and a fever that soared into the realm of life threatening within forty-eight hours. The Mind Healer was baffled by the swift progression of the disease, and said quietly to Lucy, "If this fails, we'll need to bring him to St. Mungos for treatment. They can put him in stasis until they figure out what's causing these extreme symptoms." He had cast a Floating Charm over the boy's head, so Theo's head would be kept above the water while submerged in the icy water.

"What if they can't figure it out, Severus? What then?" Lucy asked, her voice sharp with fear.

"You mustn't think like that," Severus said, his tone reassuring. But inside he was praying as hard as his housekeeper to save the life of the child who had become like a son to him. "As long as there is breath in his body, there is hope." He re-cast the diagnostic again. "Still high, but he's starting to respond."

Lucy, looking pale and drawn, sat down beside the tub.

Lily gave her a look of sympathy and understanding, for she knew exactly how the other witch felt. It was what she would have felt if that had been Harry lying in that water, burning from the inside out with a strange fever. She continued to conjure ice cubes without being told.

Harry lingered outside the door, watching the adults try and save his friend. He felt useless, and wished for once that he had the power to heal instead of summon storms. He approached the knot of adults hesitantly, his footsteps faltering as he neared the tub.

"Mum? Is . . . is Theo going to be all right?"

Lily looked up, her wand continuing to shoot out ice cubes. "I hope so, Harry. We're doing as much as we can to bring down his fever."

Harry looked down at his friend, whose face was deathly pale save for two spots of color high in his cheekbones. To his eyes, Theo looked more like a corpse ready for burial than the friend who had played with him and studied with him a few days ago. The words Is he going to die? hovered unspoken upon his lips. Instead he asked, "Why is he so sick?"

"I don't know," replied Lily.

Harry bit his lip. "It's my fault, isn't it? I gave it to him."

Severus shook his head. "It's no one's fault. You can't blame yourself for a virus, Harry. There was no way for you to know such a thing would make Theo as ill as he is."

"But . . ."

"No, Harry. What's happened to Theo is not your fault at all. People catch diseases all the time, blaming yourself for it is senseless and serves no purpose except to make you miserable."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Severus considered. Finally he replied, "Yes. Go out to the herb garden and gather some feverfew and grind it up for me. I'll need it when I brew more Fever Reducer." Giving Harry something to do would keep his mind off of how critically ill Theo was.

"I'll be back as soon as I can!" Harry said, then turned and ran from the room.

"That was kind of you, Sev, giving him something to do," Lily remarked.

Severus nodded wearily. "It's better than having him hovering and worrying, perhaps summoning another storm over this." He cast the temperature diagnostic over again.

"How is it?" asked Lucy.

"Still not within normal fever range, but it did go down a degree or so. The ice water is having and effect, though not as quickly as I would like." He checked his watch. "Another ten minutes and we'll have to remove him from the water for ten minutes, then resubmerge him."

After waiting the requisite ten minutes, Severus levitated the boy out of the tub and Lucy dried him, wrapped him in a thick terrycloth robe heated with a Warming Charm and put him back in bed. Even though he had a raging fever, Theo could still become chilled, hence the warmed robe.

Harry returned from grinding and gathering the feverfew. "I'm finished, Severus. How's Theo doing?"

"He is slightly better than before," Severus said, then made another intuitive decision. "Lucy, send your Patronus to me if I don't return after ten minutes. I shall be in my lab brewing more Fever Reducer. Harry, come with me. You can assist me."

Harry eagerly followed the Healer, anxious to be doing something useful, as he felt guilty that Theo was sick, leaving the two witches to hover over Theo.

Once he had a cauldron bubbling with the Fever Reducer, a simple enough potion to prepare, Severus turned to Harry and beckoned him out of the lab. But instead of returning to Theo's bedside at the retainer's cottage, Severus led Harry into the den of Heatherton Cottage and sat down. "We have a few more minutes before I'll need to return and see how Theodore is progressing. Is there anything you wish to discuss with me, Harry?"

Harry bit his lip. He felt compelled to apologize for getting Theo sick, despite Snape's earlier statement. "Severus, I know you said it wasn't my fault, but . . . I can't help thinking if it weren't for me coming down with this stupid virus, Theo would be fine."

Severus gave the boy a penetrating stare, then shook his head. "Harry, as I told you before, there's no point in blaming yourself for Theo becoming ill. I could have brought the virus home to all of you by coming into contact with someone at the hospital."

"Then why didn't you get sick?"

"Do you know what a carrier is?"

"A carrier?" Harry looked perplexed. "Not really."

"A carrier is a person or animal who is immune or resistant to disease, allowing them to "carry" the germs within their body and not become ill. If that is what happened, and we don't know for certain it is, then I am as guilty as you claim yourself to be for making Theodore sick." Severus explained. He tentatively put an arm about the miserable boy's shoulders. "However, we don't know if that's the case, and even so there's no sense in pointing fingers. The important thing is that he recover from this, not blaming whoever happened to bring the sickness home."

"But . . . he could die . . . couldn't he?" Harry made himself ask the question that had haunted him.

"It is possible," agreed the Healer, knowing better than to deny it, much as he would have liked to. "But I will do everything in my power to prevent it."

Harry hung his head. "I wish . . . I had the power to cure him, instead my stormcaller gift. If I could heal . . . it'd be so much more useful than summoning stupid thunderstorms. I'm scared, Severus. I don't want to lose the first friend I ever had." To his acute distress and shame, Harry found his eyes smarting with tears. They welled up and dribbled down his face despite his attempt to wipe them away with his sleeve. He couldn't seem to get control over himself, despite the many 'lessons' he'd had growing up about boys keeping a stiff upper lip and not crying like a little baby. He sniffled hard, but the traitorous tears continued to fall.

To his shock, Severus didn't sneer at him, but instead pulled him into his side. "There now, Harry. It's all right to cry."

Severus' words, spoken in a tone of quiet understanding and sympathy, were just what Harry needed to allow himself to release the stranglehold upon his emotions. All at once, the boy turned, gripping the Healer's robes hard in his fists, and shoved his face against the other's shoulder. Huddled against the Healer, he began to cry softly. A part of him still fought against the tears, but they came inexorably, soaking the Mind Healer's robes.

"Good. That's it, child. There's no shame in tears." Severus murmured, gently rubbing the boy's back and shoulders.

Harry would have smiled if he hadn't been sobbing quietly, for this was the first time anyone had ever praised him for bawling like a baby. He didn't understand why it made Severus happy to see him weeping, but right then he was too upset to dwell much on the odd reaction.

The Mind Healer said nothing further, just held the boy. Harry was wound tighter than a clock spring, and had badly needed such a release, Severus didn't need to be a Mind Healer to know that. Tension had been pouring off the boy in waves ever since Theo had become progressively worse, and no one knew better how guilt trapped one in a vicious cycle of regret and remorse than Severus Snape, who had blamed himself for years for not being able to awaken Lily from her coma. That failure had been among the worst he had ever had to deal with, and it had made him question his ability to heal, and even his purpose in becoming a Mind Healer. Eventually he had come to realize what he had told Harry—that sometimes things happen beyond your control and you simply had to pick up the pieces and go on, because blaming yourself was an exercise in futility. Oddly enough, it was Lucy who had helped him the most during that dark time. The young witch had understood intimately what it was like to be censored for past choices and have to pick up the pieces of your life and go on, mourn the past though you might.

Harry would have lingered longer in Snape's arms, as it was unheard of for him to receive comfort from any adult authority figure in his life, except his mother, but just then a swirling icy white majestic bear appeared in front of Severus.

The bear seemed almost translucent, and then it spoke in Lucy's voice. "Severus, come up here! I think . . . I think he's having a seizure or something! Help me!"

Severus was on his feet instantly, setting Harry on the ground. Without another word, he vanished, Apparating away to Theo's room in the flicker of an instant.

Harry swallowed hard, debating if he should follow, then squared his shoulders and decided he couldn't stand being alone here, waiting for something to happen, or to be told Theo had passed away. He bolted for the back door of the main house, and raced across the yard at a dead sprint.

When he arrived at the cottage, panting and disheveled some five minutes later, he charged through the house to Theo's room like an express train gone insane. Upon reaching his friend's room he paused on the threshold to catch his breath. Severus was there, pinning a wildly thrashing Theo to the bed by brute force.

Harry's eyes widened in horror as strange animal-like noises came from Theo's mouth, his head was jerking up and down violently, as if directed by a savage puppeteer. Theo's eyes were opened and rolled back in his head so that only the whites showed.

"Lily, call St. Mungos!" Severus growled, scarlet with the effort of holding the child down. Theo had seemed to gain the strength of giants and writhed and thrashed like one possessed.

Lily whirled and ran for the fireplace in the main room, shoving Harry aside as she did so, not even registering that he was there.

Harry remained frozen, certain Theo was going to expire any minute.

Suddenly Theo went still, flopping down like a discarded doll.

Lucy started to sob. "No! Oh no, please!" She ran to grasp her son's hand.

Then she halted as Theo's body suddenly arched upward and was surrounded by a strident blue and icy purple light. There came several loud and sharp crackling sounds and a moan that scaled upwards into a kind of shrieking roar.

"Merlin have mercy!" Lucy screamed. "Severus, what's happening to him?"

Severus had been forced to release his hold, as the boy's sudden spasm had thrown him off quite harshly. He landed on his backside on the floor and had just sprang back to his feet when the purple and blue haze surrounded Theo. Shielding his eyes from the blinding corona of magical energy, he replied, "Lucy, I believe he's going through some sort of magical transformation."

"Transformation?" cried the terrified mother. "But he's a Squib! Are you sure he's not dying?"

As they watched, the light grew brighter until it obscured Theo's form from view.

They were forced to turn their heads away.

The brilliant corona was gone as swiftly as it had come.

When they looked back there was a six-and-a-half foot cold drake sprawled upon the bed where Theo had been.

The near cousin to a dragon, the cold drake was smaller and more serpentine than its dragon cousin, with a long whippy tail and frills upon either side of his head. He had four legs, the hind ones were stronger than the forefeet, with powerful dagger-sharp claws. The forefeet bent at the elbow and had small prehensile toes with retractable nails. Slender wings grew out from the shoulders, and as the cold drake righted itself, began to flap like sails in the wind. The drake was colored a magnificent pearlescent white and frost blue, with deeper purple tints on the toes, tail tip, nose, and frills. He had huge luminous violet eyes, and the off hind foot was slightly crooked, but hardly noticeable.

He gazed about the room and gave a startled half-roar, examining his new form in amazement.

"Theo? Oh, Magnificent Merlin!" gasped Lucy, tears streaming down her face. "I should have known. But it's been so long since anyone has inherited the ability . . . not since my grandfather . . . I'd forgotten the stories of the shifting sickness the first time the transformation occurred . . . and thee a Squib besides! Who would have thought?"

"Theo? Bloody hell, you're a dragon!" cried Harry.

"Not a dragon, a cold drake," Lucy corrected. "A drake is a smaller cousin to a dragon, bred to survive the extreme cold of the far north, and it breathes icy gusts instead of fire, cold enough to freeze you solid."

Harry whistled and just stared at his friend, who was wriggling his frills and contorting his head to examine his wings and tail.

"You're familiar with this transformation, Lucy?" Severus sputtered.

"Yes, it's a trait that's been in my family for generations, given centuries ago when one of my ancestors on my father's side saved the life of a nest of cold drake hatchlings. He hid them from poachers and kept them warm with his own body heat. When the mother returned after trying to lead the poachers away, she found Marcus Nott near frozen to death. She warmed him with a spell and thanked him, and shared her blood in a magical ritual, giving him the ability to assume a cold drake's shape for a night and a day every three days. The gift was passed down through his heirs, but sometimes it skipped generations, as it did with my grandfather, who was the last to inherit it. He always thought my brother would inherit the gift, but he never did. Oh, he would be green with jealousy if he were to learn his Squib grandson received it instead!"

Harry approached his transformed friend. "Hey, Theo. Can you understand me?"

The cold drake bobbed his head.

"Can you talk?"

The drake shook his head, then suddenly nodded. Narrowing his violet eyes, he concentrated hard.

*Harry, it's me, Theo.* A strange silvery voice spoke inside Harry's head. *Not sure if I'm doing this right, but . . .can you hear me?*

"Sure I can, though it's weird hearing you inside my head."

"You can hear him in your mind?" asked Severus.

"Yeah, but he says it's hard for him to project stuff, he needs to concentrate." Harry said.

"Do you remember who you are? Who we are? Where you are?" Severus fired off questions, testing the boy's memory.

*Of course, Severus! I'm Theodore Nott, you're Severus Snape, that's my mum, and that's Harry, my best friend. And I think I'm in my bed, but everything looks kind of strange in this shape. My eyes feel all funny.*

"Cold drakes see differently than humans do," Severus told him. "Your vision is more sideways than forward."

"Theo, you're magnificent!" Lucy said, then she walked over and hugged the frost-colored drake, weeping.

Lily returned and said, "I contacted St. Mungos, they said to Floo him over immediately . . . ." Her jaw hung open as she caught sight of the cold drake. "Flaming bloody hell! Where is Theo?"

"He's right here, Mum. He's become a cold drake!" Harry announced, overjoyed that his friend had a special magical talent after all. "Now you can fly, Theo."

Theo bobbed his head, his violet orbs shimmering with delight. * I know. I can't wait.*